<strong>Email </strong>darren.fishell@patch.com<strong><br>Phone </strong>909.274.8345<strong><br>Hometown </strong>Diamond Bar<strong><br>Birthday </strong>May 12, 1987<strong><br>Facebook </strong>facebook.com/DiamondBarPatch<strong><br>Twitter </strong>twitter.com/DiamondBarPatch<strong><br>Welcome Video</strong>
<strong>Bio</strong>
Darren Fishell has a passion for journalism that began early, as a sophomore reporter and later editor in chief for the Diamond Ranch High School paper. After those early years growing up in Diamond Bar, Darren shipped off to Maine to attend Bowdoin College, where he spent summers and spare time reporting in Brunswick for The Times Record on everything from church bazaars to snow plow contract disputes and gubernatorial debates. After graduation, he worked as a correspondent for The Times Record, reporting in towns dappling Mid Coast Maine. His reporting on four men battling prostate cancer earned him an award from the Maine Coalition to Fight Prostate Cancer and was collected and republished for distribution throughout the state.
At Bowdoin, Darren co-founded and served as editor in chief of a student and community news website called Curia that provided students a platform to read about and discuss the issues of the day. That site introduced Darren to a new take on community journalism as an extended and community-wide conversation – the resource that Diamond Bar Patch will provide.
Darren has also contributed reporting for the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, an investigative journalism non-profit headquartered in Augusta, Maine.
Growing up in Diamond Bar, Darren attended Armstrong Elementary, Lorbeer Middle School, and Diamond Ranch High School. In his senior year at Diamond Ranch, he received a school service award for his work as editor in chief of the school paper.
See Darren's welcome video to Diamond Bar Patch for a video guide to the site.<br><br><strong>Our Beliefs</strong><br>At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for you to inject your beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that your beliefs are on the record will cause you to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that we failed in this mission, please let us know.<br><br><strong>Politics</strong><br>I was a registered Democrat until the 2010 mid-term elections, when I became unaligned to follow a compelling Independent candidate for governor in Maine. I strongly feel that party affiliation is only the tip of the iceberg with any candidate and I follow politicians of any stripe who are thoughtful, nuanced, and caring. My only hard-nosed political belief is that a better-informed public is more capable of governing itself. <br><br><strong>Religion</strong><br>I am not religious, but I value strongly the idea of Buddhist teacher and thinker Thich Naht Hanh that we have much to learn and to take from every world religion. I would suggest his book Living Buddha, Living Christ to people of any creed. I believe our creation is magnificent and rife with mystery and I would point anyone to Carl Sagan's Cosmos as a brilliant illustration of that.<br><br><strong>Local Hot-Button Issues</strong><br>Development is an ongoing tension, both at the proposed site of the Los Angeles football stadium and at Site "D," owned by Walnut Valley School District. The future of Diamond Bar could be shaped by the fate of the Los Angeles football stadium project.
School budgets will also be a point of interest throughout this year as districts will likely see significant cutbacks from the state.
The Diamond Bar library recently received recognition as a "Family Place" library from a national organization focused on promoting early childhood education and literacy.
L.A. County Sheriff's investigators have been contacted by five more victims of a Ponzi scheme allegedly operated by three Diamond Bar women. They are asking any other victims to contact the Sheriff's Commercial Crimes Bureau.
Gas prices saw a slight increase over the weekend after nearly two months of steady decline. AAA spokesperson Jeffrey Spring said a weakening dollar could bring on further increases.
The city is seeking to take legal action against a home with "severe hoarding conditions" in North Diamond Bar after the home was deemed unsafe and residents refused to leave, city officials said.
Jodie's Hallmark in North Diamond Bar closed June 30. After Blockbuster closed in April and Ralph's is planning its exit in August, Mayor Steve Tye urged residents to shop locally.
This week was busy for news in Diamond Bar. Here's all that was fit to post from July 4-9.
The Pomona Unified School District is forming a group of 7-11 community representatives to help advise the school board on the best use of the district's potentially surplus land.
Sheriff's investigators said that no school officials were involved in the scheme, except for some who were victims. Investigators were not able to release the number how many of the over 40 victims had connections to the school.
Investigators from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said that two Diamond Bar women arrested Tuesday in connection with a suspected Ponzi scheme ran to the side of victimized investors after the 2010 arrest of a third suspect in the case.
A semi-truck was overturned on the 60 eastbound past grand, blocking the right 2 lanes at around 2 p.m. Thursday.
A 390-acre brushfire is burning near the 57 freeway in Carbon Canyon in Brea, south of Diamond Bar. Brea Fire Chief Wolfgang Knabe said the fire is not expected to reach South Diamond Bar.
Investigators from the L.A. County Sheriff's Asian Gang Team believe that a Hacienda Heights man forced his way into a sub-lease at a Diamond Bar home, where he operated an illegal 'hostess bar' for around five months.
A trio of PTA mothers are suspected by Los Angeles County Sheriff's investigators of masterminding a 3-year Ponzi scheme that collapsed after the schemers could not pay a debt of $4 million to over 40 investors, including victims in nearby Norwalk.
Pomona Unified officials said there's no known link between PTA funds and Ponzi scheme allegedly carried out by three Diamond Bar women with connections to Armstrong Elementary School.
Pomona Unified School District officials said there is no known link between PTA funds and a Ponzi scheme allegedly carried out by three Diamond Bar women with connections to Armstrong Elementary School.
Tank is a two-year-old male pit bull looking for a home.
Readers near and far chipped in comments on the story of the arrest of two women suspected of masterminding a Ponzi scheme in Diamond Bar. Here are the comments from local readers.
Investment advisor and accountant Gary Chow listed three primary warning signs for identifying Ponzi schemes and discusses his own charitable investment group, Gifts After Six, in the Walnut Unified School District.
PTA mothers are suspected by L.A. County Sheriff's investigators of masterminding a 3-year Ponzi scheme that collapsed after the schemers couldn't pay a $4 million debt of $4M to over 40 investors.
A car chase that began in the Inland Empire on the 10 freeway made its way south on the 57 and down into Orange County on the 22, where the suspect was arrested without incident, according to CHP reports.